Let’s hear those balalaikas ringing out
The World Cup has been going on for 10 days now and so far it has been a resounding success, both on and off the field. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the terrific atmosphere generated by the visiting fans and their Russian hosts. The tournament appears to have lifted the mood in Russia. Everyone involved seems to be having a good time, not something that many predicted in Vladimir Putin’s homeland. Admittedly it is partially fuelled by the cheap beer and warm weather, but it is more than that. There is a feelgood atmosphere that transcends any politics and hopefully will continue throughout the tournament, even if Russia get knocked out.
One set of fans who are always welcome are the Japanese who helped clean up the Mordovia Arena in Saransk after their team’s surprise victory over Colombia. They bring their own bin bags and did much the same during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Wouldn’t it be nice if the other fans did something similar.
As regards the football, the mood has definitely been helped by the success of the hosts and a number of early upsets, the most notable being Mexico’s deserved victory over defending champions Germany, with Brazil and Argentina also being held to unexpected draws.
Things got worse for Argentina who suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to Croatia. It is all too easy to blame Lionel Messi but it was not just the superstar — the whole team fell apart, including goalkeeper Willy Cabellero whose clumsy footwork is always an accident waiting to happen. At the time of writing, Argentina’s fate in this tournament was incredibly in Iceland’s hands.
The German newspapers were not impressed by their team’s lackustre performance in the opener. “Nightmare” was the headline in Berliner Zeitung while Morgenpost called it “Fiasco Instead of Fiesta.” Summing up the mood of the German fans Die Welt’s message for the team was “Wake Up!”
However, beware the wounded giants and you would think Germany and Brazil will lick their wounds and make their presence felt in forthcoming matches. Their prime concern now is getting through the group stage rather than producing fancy football.
Contributing to the positive feeling for the tournament has been the success of Russia, having scored eight goals in two games. The last time Russia (then Soviet Union) won two World Cup matches in a row was 1966. In Saudi Arabia and Egypt they have admittedly not played the strongest of teams and their scorelines might have been a little flattering. But the jubilant chants of “Ros! Si! Ya!” have been growing louder and louder. We will find out how good they really are in the next round when they will most likely face Portugal or Spain.
England fans are still recovering from the shock of seeing their team actually win a World Cup game. Admittedly 2-1 against Tunisia doesn’t exactly sound an earth-shattering triumph, but it was by far their best performance in a long time. They looked positive going forward with some nice one-touch football at times. There was still that nagging feeling that they almost blew it despite being in charge for most of the match and had to rely on Harry Kane to save the day.
The English newspapers were in no doubt who was the hero of the hour.
The Times and Metro both went for “Captain Marvel”, while “Captain Fantastic” was the Mirror’s verdict. Recognising the last gasp winner both the Daily Express and Daily Mail settled for “Harry Houdini”.
The Daily Telegraph came up with “Keep Calm and Harry On” while The Guardian went slightly biblical with “Able Kane”. Always determined to be different The Sun announced “I’m Buzzing”, a reference to the invasion of swarms of insects in Volgograd.
The only England casualty so far is manager Gareth Southgate, who suffered a dislocated shoulder while jogging. Tomorrow England play Panama which should be another victory, but nothing can be guaranteed when England play in the World Cup.
The verdict is still out on the VAR (video assistant referee).
There still appears to be an alarming lack of consistency. England fans were puzzled why VAR did not get involved when Kane appeared to be rugby tackled by Tunisian defenders in the penalty area. VAR also ignored the moment when Argentina felt a penalty should have been awarded to them in the Iceland game. But the most unsatisfactory VAR decision came when Australia were awarded a penalty against Denmark when Mathew Leckie’s header hit a defender’s forearm at very close range.
Morocco were a little unfortunate to be the first team to be eliminated. In both of their games against Iran and Portugal they were the better team, but could not translate their pressure into goals. But that’s what happens in football. Someone you can’t keep out of the news, of course, is Ronaldo. He has scored all four of Portugal’s goals and looks determined to add to his tally. Despite that win, the current European champions, have not looked particularly convincing although they played their part in an entertaining 3-3 draw with Spain.
In the unlikely event that you need reminding of where the World Cup is being held, just take a look at the wonderful place-names — Ekaterinburg (home of the splendidly-named Uralmash club), Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd. They sound like they should be locations in some sort of spy novel rather than a football tournament.
Today Russia is holding its firstever Balalaika Day in Sochi to coincide with the Germany-Sweden match at the Baltic Sea resort. Who knows, we may even be hearing Back In The USSR with all those “balalaikas ringing out”.